After Gary Mitchell is killed on Delta Vega, Spock gets Kirk to talk about Gary, and Kirk relates how they had first met at the Academy, with 18-year old Kirk as lieutenant in his final year and Gary as a new cadet who tries to bring Kirk out of his shell (as Kirk tries to get Gary to actually study, rather than rely on his intuition). They end up together on a training cruise aboard the Republic and get into trouble when they try to retrieve information that the Captain has classified. However the two are later teamed (along with Kirk’s Andorian girlfriend, Phelana) to provide support at a ceremony that is supposed to reunite the Heir’tza and the Heir’och. One of the telepaths central to the ceremony is kidnapped, and Kirk and Gary Mitchell manage to rescue him, saving the day, so they finish the training cruise as heroes, rather than in disgrace.